Pages

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Book Review: The Beader's Guide to Jewelry Design by Margie Deeb

The Fundamentals of Jewelry Design for Bead Artists by Margie Deeb

Whether you are a seasoned bead designer, just beginning, or somewhere in the middle, I think you will find lots to love in Margie Deeb's newest book, The Fundamentals of Jewelry Design for Bead Artists. Beautifully illustrated, full of explicit examples and dynamite practical information, this book seems to cover it all.
Let's start with the structure which follows the process of jewelry design itself. Her chapters go as follows:

Unity

Focal Points & Emphasis

Balance

Movement

Shape

Color

Jewelry and the Body

The Creative Journey

Within each chapter there are at least 12 subheadings ( with the exception of Color, Deeb's known specialty, and that one has 24) that break down the subject into its important components with specific examples and opportunities for the reader to get involved in design decisions. And even better, each section ends with Challenge Yourself exercises that give you several ways of exploring each design concept further in your own work. Margie gives us specific "assignments" that will sharpen our skills in each learning area. You are free to work your way through the book or pick out areas that you feel would be most helpful to you.

In addition to the challenges, there are many graphics through out the book that she gives us permission to copy, enlarge etc. for personal use. For example, in the chapter Shape, she has drawings that we can practice seeing how a design would look by drawing it right on the human form. In the chapter, Jewelry and the Body she includes 17 pages of images, drawings and charts of how jewelry and body shape interact . These are an invaluable resource.

One of my favorite chapters is The Creative Journey. Here Deeb addresses that universal "elephant in the room" fear and doubt, with specific, constructive suggestions. She deepens the discussion with ideas for nurturing and encouraging our creativity by showing us how to structure our creative process through her own examples and those she has gleaned from 8 other jewelry designers, many of whom you will know.

I hope I have given you enough information to see that The Beader's Guide to Jewelry Design can have an important place in your personal library. You can purchase it directly from the publisher, Lark Books, or online at Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.

When Margie's book arrived in my mailbox, I read it from cover to cover. I saw shape, balance and movement in totally new ways, and it's a rare day in my studio that I don't refer to its pages again and again!